WASHINGTON — President Trump is proposing major cuts to health care, food assistance and other safety-net programs for the poor to balance the budget in 10 years while increasing spending for the military and other priorities.

But even if Congress goes along with the budget the president will send to Capitol Hill on Tuesday — which is unlikely — it requires rosy economic assumptions to work.

White House Budget Director Mick Mulvaney said Trump’s first full budget proposal was written from the perspective of the taxpayer, specifically whether the administration could justify each line item to a family in Grand Rapids, Mich., or to a schoolteacher in Kenosha, Wis.

That means, he said, measuring success not by how many people are being helped by a federal program, but by how many people “we help get off of those programs and help them get back in charge of their own lives again.”

“If you’re on food stamps and you’re able bodied, we need you to go to work,” Mulvaney said. “If you’re on disability insurance … and you’re not truly disabled, we need you to go back to work.”

Mulvaney said that will help grow the economy faster than experts predict it will under current policies.

But critics, such as Robert Greenstein, president of the left-leaning Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, argues not only will that not happen, but vulnerable Americans will be hurt.

Trump’s proposed cuts to safety-net programs, Greenstein said, should “lay to rest the notion that the president intends to look out for struggling families left behind by the economy.”

The budget proposal assumes passage of the House Obamacare repeal bill, which cuts spending on Medicaid and insurance subsidies for low- and moderate-income families while repealing taxes imposed to pay for the Affordable Care Act’s expansion of insurance coverage to millions more Americans.

In addition to those health care cuts, Trump’s budget would reduce projected Medicaid spending further and change other assistance programs.

Food aid, in particular, would be scaled back. For food stamps, the administration proposes requiring able-bodied recipients without dependent children to work, and would phase in a requirement for states to pay a portion of the benefits. States, Mulvaney said, need “skin in the game,” to help make the program work better.

Seven of the 10 states receiving the most food stamp assistance are states Trump carried in November.

Other major sources of savings — in a budget the White House boasts includes the most cuts ever proposed by a president —include student loan programs, federal retiree benefits, crop subsidies, disability payments and tax credits for the working poor and families with children. The administration says those credits should be given only to families who are in the country legally, even if the children — but not the parents — are American citizens.

The budget proposes double-digit percentage cuts next year for many Cabinet departments and major agencies, including 31% at the Environmental Protection Agency, 29% at State, and around 20% at the Agriculture and Labor departments.

By contrast, the Defense and Homeland Security departments, along with Veterans Affairs, would enjoy increases of 5% or more next year.

Trump also wants to increase spending for school voucher programs and infrastructure projects and to offer, for the first time, six weeks of paid family leave to new mothers and fathers.

Those priorities follow the promises the president made during the campaign, Mulvaney said, while upholding Trump’s pledge not to cut Medicare and Social Security.

Those programs — along with Medicaid — are the largest drivers of federal spending growth.

Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney holds a copy of President Trump's budget while touring the binding facility at the Government Publishing Office on May 19, 2017, in Washington.(Photo: Mark Wilson, Getty Images)

Trump also said he would not cut Medicaid. But Mulvaney acknowledged the House health care bill, which the president supports, would do that.

“He has clearly walked away from that promise,” said Greenstein of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

The budget also proposes cuts to the Social Security Disability Insurance program, which pays monthly benefits to those too injured to work who aren’t old enough to qualify for Social Security retirement benefits. But Mulvaney said the vast majority of people would not consider disability payments to be part of Social Security.

“It’s old age retirement that they think of when they think of Social Security,” he said.

Trump’s proposal, an expanded version of the “skinny” budget he outlined in March, is likely to face a tough reception on Capitol Hill.

“The president told the American people he would help create jobs and provide greater economic security for families. This budget does exactly the opposite,” said Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y. “It’s a budget that takes a meat cleaver to the middle class by gutting the programs that help them the most.”

And it’s not just Democrats who have spoken out. Rep. Mike Conaway, the Texas Republican who heads the House Agriculture Committee, has called the proposed cuts to farm programs “wrongheaded.” And Senate Republicans are taking their own approach to overhauling the Affordable Care Act, which could significantly alter the budget impact.

And during a news conference Monday, Gov. Chris Christie said he even without knowing the specifics of Trump's proposal, it was clear the proposed cuts to Medicaid could have a large impact in New Jersey, where Christie expanded the program.

"Does a proposed $800 billion cut to Medicaid concern me? Yes it does," said Christie, who supported Trump’s campaign and briefly served as his transition coordinator.

To increase defense spending as much as Trump wants, Congress would have to change a bipartisan budget law passed in 2011.

Mulvaney will begin selling his plan to lawmakers in appearances before the House and Senate Budget panels Wednesday and Thursday.

He’ll likely to be asked to defend the administration’s projection that the economy can grow 3% a year, the foundation of what Mulvaney called “Trumponomics.”

While that’s the historic average, experts say 3% growth will be difficult to achieve now because of a slowdown in the growth of labor, capital and productivity. The main reason for that is the country's aging population — which is also driving the projected increases in spending for Social Security and Medicare.

"While we appreciate the administration's focus on reducing the debt, when using more realistic assumptions, the president’s budget does not add up," said Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a nonpartisan budget watchdog group. "If the administration is serious about meeting the nation’s fiscal challenges, it will need to focus on structural reforms to our nation’s largest spending programs along with new revenue to finance them."

Mulvaney said the administration doesn’t expect Congress to adopt everything in the proposal.

“If Congress has a different way to get to that endpoint, God bless them. That’s great,” he said. But, he added, “It would be nice to minimize the daylight between us and them on these things.”

In this Jan. 30, 2018, file photo, President Trump gestures as he delivers his first State of the Union address in the House chamber of the U.S. Capitol to a joint session of Congress in Washington, as Vice President Mike Pence and House Speaker Paul Ryan applaud. Win McNamee, AP

President Trump sings the National Anthem at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta on January 8, 2018.
Trump is attending the College Football Playoff National Championship between the University of Georgia Bulldogs and the University of Alabama Crimson Tide. Jim Watson, AFP/Getty Images

President Trump waves as he departs after addressing the media at Camp David on Jan. 6, 2018 in Thurmont, Maryland. President Trump met with staff, members of his Cabinet and Republican members of Congress to discuss the Republican legislative agenda for 2018. (Photo by Chris Kleponis-Pool/Getty Images) Pool

President Trump returns to the White House following a weekend trip with Republican leadership and members of his cabinet at Camp David, on Jan. 7, 2018 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch-Pool/Getty Images) Pool, Getty Images

President Trump speaks with reporters as he arrives for a New Year's Eve gala at his Mar-a-Lago resort with first lady Melania Trump and their son Barron, Sunday, Dec. 31, 2017, in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) Evan Vucci, AP

President Trump and first lady Melania are escorted by Rev. James R. Harlan as they arrive for Christmas Eve service at the Church of Bethesda-by-the Sea, in West Palm Beach, Fla., Sunday, Dec. 24, 2017. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) Carolyn Kaster, AP

President Trump and first lady Melania Trump speak on the phone with children as they track Santa Claus' movements with the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) Santa Tracker on Christmas Eve at the president's Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Fla., Sunday, Dec. 24, 2017. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster) Carolyn Kaster, AP

President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump walk on the stage during the 95th annual National Christmas Tree Lighting ceremony at the Ellipse in President's Park near the White House in Washington, D.C. on Nov. 30, 2017. / AFP PHOTO / Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images Jim Watson, AFP/Getty Images

In this Nov. 30, 2017, photo, President Trump holds first lady Melania Trump's hand as they walk back to the stage during the lighting ceremony for the 2017 National Christmas Tree on the Ellipse near the White House in Washington. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta) Manuel Balce Ceneta, AP

U.S. President Donald Trump leaves the White House to visit troops at Walter Reed Bethesda Naval Medical Center Dec. 21, 2017 in Washington, D.C. Trump said he was visiting the injured military service members to wish them a merry Christmas. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) Chip Somodevilla, Getty Images

President Trump holds up a bill after signing it in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C, on Dec. 22, 2017. Trump signed the tax bill, a continuing resolution to fund the government, and a missile defense bill before leaving to spend Christmas in Mar-a-Lago, Florida. Michael Reynolds, EPA-EFE

U.S. President Donald Trump (L) hosts members of the Native American code talkers during an event in the Oval Office of the White House, on Nov. 27, 2017 in Washington, D.C. Trump stated, "You were here long before any of us were here. Although we have a representative in Congress who they say was here a long time ago. They call her Pocahontas," in reference to his nickname for Sen. Elizabeth Warren. (Photo by Oliver Contreras-Pool/Getty Images) Pool, Getty Images

11-year-old Frank "FX" Giaccio gets a pat on the back from Trump while mowing the lawn in the Rose Garden of the White House on Sept. 15, 2017. Giaccio wrote a letter to Trump expressing admiration for Trump's business background and offered to mow the White House lawn. Win McNamee, Getty Images

President Trump holds the state flag of Texas outside of the Annaville Fire House after attending a briefing on Hurricane Harvey in Corpus Christi, Texas, on Aug. 29, 2017. Jim Watson, AFP/Getty Images

Trump holds a proclamation for Made in America Day and Made In America Week that he signed during a product showcase in the East Room of the White House on July 17, 2017. Chip Somodevilla, Getty Images

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President Trump, Speaker Paul Ryan and other congressional Republicans celebrate in the Rose Garden of the White House following the House vote to repeal Obamacare on May 4, 2017. Mandel Ngan, AFP/Getty Images

Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke listens while Trump speaks before signing an executive order to review the Antiquities Act at the Department of the Interior on April 26, 2017. Brendan Smialowski, AFP/Getty Images

Trump prepares to award a Purple Heart to U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Alvaro Barrientos, with first lady Melania Trump, right, and Tammy Barrientos, second from right, at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on April 22, 2017, in Bethesda, Md. Alex Brandon, AP

New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick, President Trump, Patriots owner Robert Kraft and Patriots President Jonathan Kraft stand with Patriots players as Trump holds a team helmet at a ceremony honoring the Patriots as Super Bowl champions on the South Lawn at the White House on April 19, 2017. Geoff Burke, USA TODAY Sports

President Trump, flanked by Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price and Vice President Pence, speaks about the health care overhaul bill on March 24, 2017, in the Oval Office. Pablo Martinez Monsivais, AP

Trump gets in the driver's seat of an 18-wheeler while meeting with truck drivers and trucking CEOs on the South Portico prior to their meeting to discuss health care at the White House on March 23, 2017. Jim Lo Scalzo, European Pressphoto Agency

Trump and German Chancellor Angela Merkel walk down the Cross Hall to enter the East Room for a joint press conference at the White House on March 17, 2017. Michael Reynolds, European Pressphoto Agency

Trump holds up a note and drawing depicting him that was created by the child of Greg Knox of Ohio during a meeting on health care in the Roosevelt Room on March 13, 2017. MIchael Reynolds, Pool, Getty Images

Trump walks with grandchildren Arabella Kushner and Joseph Kushner, holding a model of Marine One, across the South Lawn of the White House on March 3, 2017, before boarding Marine One helicopter for the short flight to nearby Andrews Air Force Base. Pablo Martinez Monsivais, AP

Trump reaches out to shake hands with Army Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Fla., on Feb. 20, 2017, where Trump announced that McMaster will be the new national security adviser. Susan Walsh, AP

White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus and Vice President Pence look on as Trump speaks briefly to reporters after greeting Harley Davidson executives on the South Lawn of the White House on Feb. 2, 2017. Drew Angerer, Getty Images

Trump reads from one of the executive orders he signed during a visit to the Department of Homeland Security with Vice President Mike Pence, Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly and other officials in Washington on Jan. 25, 2017. Chip Somodevilla, Pool/European Pressphoto Agency

President Trump holds a letter left for him by former president Barack Obama as Vice President Pence looks on before the swearing-in of the White House senior staff on Jan. 22, 2017. Mandel Ngan, AFP/Getty Images

Trump is joined by the congressional leadership and his family as he formally signs his cabinet nominations into law in the Presidents Room of the Senate on Jan. 20, 2017. J. Scott Applewhite, Pool Photo-USA TODAY Sports